The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) published a report on March 29 entitled Assessment of Advanced Solid-State Lighting. The NAS committee reviewed the development and future impacts of SSL, including projections of cost and research and development (R&D) necessary to overcome barriers to widespread adoption. The report included praise for the U.S. Department of Energy’s role in advancing SSL research, development, and deployment. It also made a number of recommendations, including many that have already been implemented:

•Continue to make investments in LED core technology, aimed at increasing yields, and in fundamental emitter research to increase efficacy, including improvements in the controlled growth and performance of the emitter material.

•Fund research to develop instrumentation for in situ monitoring and dynamic control of the metal organic chemical vapor deposition growth process.

•Support research to understand the fundamental nature of efficiency droop at high currents in OLEDs and to seek means to mitigate this effect through materials and device architectural designs.

•Focus on efforts that result in significant light outcoupling enhancements for OLEDs that are low-cost to implement and are independent of both wavelength and viewing angle.

•Seek to obtain 50% cost sharing for manufacturing R&D projects, as was done with the projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
 
The report is available for download.